Introduction
Now that we’ve learned about the history of colonization and how Indigenous Amazonian communities are resisting, it’s time to learn more about why they’re doing so. Central to Amazonian understanding of the rainforest lies Kawsak Sacha, translating to The Living Forest. Kawsak Sacha is the Amazonian term for their understanding of seeing the Earth and every ecosystem as sentient, intelligent, and conscious beings in which we are all in relationship with. Along with it being the foundation of their social imaginary, it is also the foundation of a policy they are proposing in court for conservation in the Amazon.
Activity
Please listen to this podcast and read this article about Kawsak Sacha by Jose Gualingá, one of the central activists behind the movement.
José Gualinga Montalvo: ‘The jungle is a living, intelligent and conscious being’ – SUMAÚMA
Reflection
- How do you relate to Kawsak Sacha?
- Do you see nature in such a way or feel interconnected to it?
- What do you think of the Kawsak Sacha proposal?
- How do you think it would play a role in state-wide conservation?
- How could it change how the government interacts with nature?
As some may know, the forest has been scientifically proven to be alive and sentient. From The Mother Tree to Plant Theory, we know the natural world around us in conscious. Yet, the West refuses to acknowledge it or do anything about it.
- What do you think could be the bridge that gets the West to understand and engage with Kawsak Sacha?
Activity
This video provides an example of how Kawsak Sacha dictates the lives and experiences of Amazonians. The term creates a foundational wonder, fascination, and appreciation for the natural world and everything it brings us
Reflection
- How do you think Kawsak Sacha is practiced? How would you practice it?
- How and why does living by Kawsak Sacha inspire organic protection of nature and resistance against extraction?
Activity
Ka’a Body: Cosmovision of the Rainforest was the first exhibition of Indigenous art at Paradise Row, a famous art gallery in London. The exhibit displayed the bond between the body and the territory within the Amazon, and the two very different relations of body and territory for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The show also became a symbol to merge “ two very different worlds of the wild, complex rainforests of Brazil and also complex, yet so dissimilar to it, London – the heart of capitalism, which greatly continuous to profit from the resources of the Amazon” (Glass Magazine, 2022).
Reflection
- How do these photos make you feel connected (or disconnected) to the Amazon?
- Do they represent the relationship between land and body well?
- How does it represent Kawsak Sacha?
Activity
Please watch this short video of a speech by Nina Gualingá highlighting the connections between land and body, both in healing and in the devastation colonialism has brought.
Reflection
- How is land and body connected?
- If land and body are interconnected, and both are sentient beings, are we a part of the land? What are the implications of being a part of the land?
- How does colonialism dually destroy land and body?
- What does holistic healing that repairs both land and body look like to you?
Activity
Please watch this short video about food sovereignty:
Reflection
- How is food sovereignty tied to Kawsak Sacha?
Please take 2-5 minutes to write about your relationship with food.
- Have you always bought food from the supermarket?
- How does the reality of food actually coming from the land, not a store feel to you?
- What do you think the world would be like if everyone ate off the land? Would we feel more connected to nature and the idea of Kawsak Sacha?
Activity
Now that we’ve come to understand the history of colonialism in Amazonia and the foundational messages of resistance in the Amazon, please read this short article- A Plea Of the Amazon Forest
Reflection
- How can you work to help fulfill these requests in your own life? Write out how you will fulfill at least 6 out of 10 of these pleads
We will now connect the fight for sovereignty in the Amazon to the ones happening here in British Columbia and Canada.
Bibliography
Baquero-Diaz, Carlos Andrés. José Gualinga Montalvo: ‘The jungle is a living, intelligent and conscious being’. Sumaúma, 2024.
Benites, Sandra and Ekman, Anita. Ka’a Body: Cosmovision of the Rainforest. Paradise Row, 2022. https://paradiserow.co/exhibitions/6-ka-a-body-cosmovision-of-the-rainforest-curated-by-sandra-benites-and-anita-ekman/index.html
Crossing the River. José Gualinga: Our Strength Comes From The Living Forest. Spotify, 2024.
Duchesne Winter, Juan. Plant Theory in Amazonian Literature. Springer, 2019.
Federation of the Huni Kui Indigenous Peoples of Acre, Brazil. Plea of the Amazon Forest. Gesturing Toward Decolonial Futures, 2023.
Gualinga, Nina. Speech on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Outside COP26. Instagram, 2021.
Gualinga, Nina & Jovenes Amazónicas Ecuador. El Selva Es Nuestro Supermercado (The rainforest is our supermarket). Instagram, 2023.
Gualinga, Nina & Lucitante, Alex. Un Canción en honor al Yasuní. Instagram, 2023.
Petrusewicz, Olga. Ka’a Body the first international exhibition of indigenous art from Brazil at Paradise Row Gallery. Glass Magazine, 2022. https://theglassmagazine.com/kaa-body-the-first-international-exhibition-of-indigenous-art-from-brazil-at-paradise-row-gallery/
The Mother Tree Project, 2024.